It's a tough place to be, having six hundred dollars to spend on a single video card. It's rough, and if you're there, may God have pity on your soul. You're about to buy a GTX 280. Some of the glimmer has blown away; this is the fastest single-GPU card of all time, but HD 4000 is a whirlwind. It's all value, though, and the best has and will always require a price premium. NVIDIA people won't be dissuaded, and the GTX 280, despite competitive pressure, is selling well. A lot of work went into making this a new card, not a streamlined or overclocked G80 part. It's beastly, costly, and if you've any doubts about buying this card, they're warranted. Fortunately, you can know this: it's powerful, and there probably won't be anything like it for some time to come.